Dreams in the Wind
by ArtemisUndergoingMitosis
Summary: When Harper Drake graduates from high school, she works up the courage to leave home and travel with her Pokemon. However, Harper's complicated past resurfaces, and her adventure becomes more than she bargained for.  Original Trainer, set in Kanto
1. Chapter 1

"Harper! Come help me with dinner!"

The girl in question abandoned her summer work in a heartbeat and practically skipped down the stairs to chop vegetables with her Eevee, Cyrah, close at her heels. Summer was upon Harper Drake, and the fourteen year-old wanted nothing to do with homework. She thought of the three months of freedom ahead of her—three months of training, of romping through Viridian Forest with Cyrah and her Butterfree, Kite. Well, that's what she had thought when it began. The reality of her summer was not so ideal, thanks to her mother's sentence—grounded for letting Kite out in the house.

"What do you need?" she asked eagerly, rolling up her sleeves.

"Chop," her mother said, handing her a pair of red bell peppers. Harper reached over her mother's shoulder for a knife and got to work, Cyrah sitting with her head on her feet. Harper's mother was a tall, poised woman with dark hair and intense blue eyes. Harper hadn't inherited her mother's height, poise, hair, or eyes—those she gave to Harper's sister, Joanna. She did, however, inherit her mother's stubborn streak and sharp tongue, which made for quite a few full blown arguments and even more spats.

"Harper, get Cyrah out of the kitchen. You know she's not supposed to be here." Harper rolled her eyes and glared at her mother.

"What do you think she's going to do? It's not like she's wild."

"I let her in the house. That should be enough."

"If I kick Cyrah out of the kitchen, can I let Kite in?" Harper knew she was picking a fight, but she said it anyway, arching her eyebrows challengingly.

"Harper Anne, I'm not going to go through this with you again." She sounded more tired than anything else, but Harper felt the familiar rise of anger at her mother's stubborn insistence.

"I think you should. I've never gotten a legitimate explanation," Haper said, chopping her peppers with greater ferocity.

"I've told you before—bug Pokémon carry diseases. And who knows where that Eevee of yours has been."

"Bug Pokémon do not carry diseases! And Cyrah spends all her time with me!"

"I've seen you battle those things! That bug uses that powder thing—you mean to tell me that it doesn't carry diseases?"

"Mom, 'that powder thing' is a Sleep Powder attack. And she won't use it on _you_. And you still haven't said why Cyrah can't be in the kitchen. If you're worried about where she's been, you should probably kick me out of the kitchen, too."

"_You_ shower every day. I can't say the same for Cyrah."

"God, Mom! This is so stupid! Why do you hate them so much?"

"I don't hate them. They just don't belong in my kitchen."

"You let Fia in the kitchen," Harper said, naming her father's Ninetales.

"Only when your father is here. Harper, this is ridiculous. I am your mother—get Cyrah out of the kitchen—now."

The sound of the front door opening announced the presence of Harper's little sister, Joanna. Harper opened her mouth to respond, but her mother's glare silenced her, and the teenager merely glared back, the knife gripped between her fingers, the peppers still only half chopped.

"Hey, Mom, where are the cookies?" Joanna asked, looking at the empty plate on the counter.

"There were two left earlier," the girls' mother said, squinting at the plate. Harper glanced at Cyrah, who was now sitting just through the archway in the living room, crumbs covering her face. Harper's mother followed her daughter's gaze to guilty Eevee, anger building in her expression.

"THAT'S why Pokémon don't belong in the kitchen! Now get out of here, I have dinner to make!" Harper bit her lip and looked back, fleeing from the room with Cyrah just behind. When she opened the front door, her mother called out to her.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Out!" Harper called before shutting the door behind her and running toward the park a few blocks away.

As soon as she stepped foot onto the grassy area in front of the playground, Harper let Kite out of his pokéball. The Butterfree shook out his wings experimentally and then gave a Harper a sad look.

"I know, Kite. I'm sorry you had to be in there all day." Harper watched as Kite weaved through the sky, stretching his wings. Cyrah glanced at her questioningly, and Harper smiled.

"Go! Run! Have fun!" Cyrah smiled jubilantly and after a final scratch behind the ear, she took off through the grass, her tiny form chasing the Butterfree from the ground. Harper sat on the bench in front of them for awhile, content to watch their wild dance. Harper felt sorry for aggravating her mother. They were all on edge—Harper's father had been gone for two weeks on business. And while it wasn't terribly unusual for him to be gone this long, they hadn't heard from him for a couple of days, which, again, wasn't terribly unusual. But extended business trips usually meant that their father was going to come home stressed exhausted.

"We're lost," someone said behind her. "Great." The voice belonged to a dark haired boy around her own age, a Wartortle at his side.

"No we're not. We just need to find an intersection. I'll get us there," a second voice shot back as he turned in a circle, his Charmeleon copying his motions almost exactly. They looked _very_ lost.

"What we need are directions," the first boy grumbled, and his Pokémon nodded in disgruntled agreement.

"We are men, we don't ask for directions!" Harper snorted as the trainer struck a gallant pose, his hands on his hips and his face angled skyward. He needed directions, and he knew it. His friend raised his eyebrows, and the boy sighed, looking defeated. "Okay, maybe we need directions."

"Thank you," the other boy breathed, rolling his eyes.

"Oi!" the Charmeleon's trainer called, and Harper turned to see him waving in her direction. "Do you know how to get to the Pokémon Center from here?" His friend looked at him incredulously.

"You can't just scream 'oi!' at people and expect them to respond well!" the other boy hissed to his friend.

"Yeah, I know how to get there," Harper called back grudgingly. The boy smiled, and he tossed his bright red hair.

"Think you could show us?" Harper rolled her eyes, but she nodded anyway. She didn't really have much to do anyway.

"This way," she said, motioning to her right. "Cyrah! Kite! Come on!" she called to her Pokémon. The two of them returned quickly, looking warily at the Wartortle and Charmeleon. The Wartortle smiled and waved, while the Charmeleon flexed his muscles and blew smoke. Cyrah dismissed him immediately, but greeted the water Pokémon warmly. Kite was more difficult to read—he regarded each with equal reserve and flew close to his trainer's shoulder.

"My name's Kieran," the charming tall redhead said, shooting Harper another one of his big smiles. "But people call me Red."

"I'm Harper," the girl replied.

"And I'm Jay," the shorter, dark-haired trainer said, holding out his hand for a handshake. Harper took it awkwardly, not accustomed to shaking hands upon meeting people her own age.

"People call him Blue," Kieran said, leaning in to whisper conspiratorially in Harper's ear. "Because he's so gloomy, you see."

"_People_ do not call me Blue. _You_ call me Blue."

"That's not true! My sister calls you Blue too!"

"She's four! And she only calls me that because you threatened to take away her Pachirisu doll if she didn't!"

"Well, that may be true," Red conceded. "Anyway, this is Blaze." The Charmeleon in question flamed a little bit and grinned. "And Mr. Sourpuss's Wartortle is Fintan. We're off to earn enough badges to challenge the Pokémon League. Well, I am at least. Mr. Sourpuss here probably won't make it."

"I liked Blue better," Jay mumbled, but Red ignored him. Harper introduced her own Pokémon and took a left, spotting the Pokémon Center at the end of the road. Red glanced up at Kite, and then down at Cyrah.

"So, you're a trainer?"

"I, uh, I guess so," Harper said, startled by the question.

"You guess so? What does that mean?" the red-head asked, an amused smile creeping onto his face.

"Well, I've had Cyrah since I was ten, and I caught Kite about six months later, and I got a badge a couple years ago, but I never really considered myself a trainer."

"Well, that's silly. Your Pokémon look great, and they are obviously very attached to you. So you've beaten the mysterious gym leader in this town?"

"Not so much. I spent a week or so in Pewter a few summers back, and I decided to battle Brock," Harper replied. The truth was that she had run away from home with plans of earning a lot more than one gym badge. Her father had found her and quite literally dragged her back to their house in the suburbs of Viridian.

"Ah. So no intel on this guy? We were going to challenge him."

"Nope. Sorry. Anyway, he's not in town—hardly ever is." The boys looked at each other with obvious disappointment. "Have you battled Brock yet? I mean, my knowledge is old, but I might still be of some help."

"I have. Blue hasn't yet. I beat him a couple of months ago—snuck away from a field trip to the museum," Red said, grinning with the memory. Harper could see the familiar gleam of victory in his eye that she recognized in all of the trainers that passed through Viridian. In part, it was a feeling that she recognized from her own experiences in the Pewter City Gym. It made her heart ache that she would never have the opportunity to do what he was about to—travel with his Pokémon and chase impossible dreams. Eventually, Harper stopped when they arrived in front of the Pokémon Center.

"We're here."

"So we are. Thanks for showing us the way—you're a real life saver!"

"Don't mention it," Harper replied, waving to the boys. After they disappeared beyond the automatic doors, she glanced at her watch. Mom was going to kill her.

The sight that greeted Harper when she made it back to her house was not what she was expecting. There were two cars in their driveway—one was the green sedan that belonged to her father, and the other was a jet black sports car that she didn't recognize. The fact that her father's Ninetales, Fia, was sitting tensely by the bushes did nothing to quell her uneasiness. Her pose was stiff and her red eyes were trained on the front door. Cyrah and Kite picked up on their trainer's apprehension, and followed her closely as she made her way towards the front door. She tried to peer through the window into the dining room to see who else was there, but the curtains were drawn. By the time she was standing in front of the red front door, Harper's heart was pounding in her chest, Cyrah had leapt into her arms and Kite was clinging to her shoulder.

Harper took a deep breath and opened the door tentatively, leaving Kite out of her Pokéball until she knew what was going on. There were two extra people at her dining room table—one a woman in her late twenties with jet black hair and the other a man of around the same age with white-blonde hair and icy blue eyes. Harper's mother, father, and sister occupied three of the remaining four chairs. As Harper opened the door, all five sets of eyes turned to look at her.

"Hello, you must be Harper," the man said, his mouth turning up into a chilling smile. Harper nodded nervously but remained silent, finally pulling out Kite's Pokéball and calling her back. "You're mother was just saying how you had gone for a walk with your Pokémon." Harper nodded again and sat next to her sister at the table. Cyrah lay at her feet and Joanna squeezed her hand under the table. Their father picked up his fork and began to eat again, and Harper and Joanna followed suit. Their mother didn't touch her food.

"Well, now that the whole gang is here, allow us to introduce ourselves," the man said. "I'm Lyall, and this is my partner, Letha. We're friends of your parents' from work." Harper's eyes flashed to her father's face for a split second, trying to read his expression. Clearly they weren't the kind of friends he wanted in his home or around his family, but the teenager was having difficulty discerning anything else. Harper was searching for any hint of fear in his eyes, but his expression was as stony as ever.

"We just stopped by for a visit. It's so difficult to find time for a home cooked meal in our line of work," he continued, flashing Harper and Joanna a smile that revealed sparkling white teeth that matched the rest of his pale person.

"Lyall. We don't want to bore anyone with business talk, do we?" Letha said, looking sharply in his direction. He rolled his eyes, and took a few more bites of the chicken Harper's mother had prepared earlier that day. Nobody else was eating anymore. The tense pseudo dinner continued for another five minutes, and for that time, the sounds of Lyall's chewing seemed almost painfully loud, and his fork clanged like thunder against his ceramic plate. To Harper, it seemed to be hours before Lyall finally put his fork down and smacked his lips in satisfaction

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I am thoroughly impressed by this lovely meal. There wouldn't happen to be a dessert waiting in the wings, would there?" Lyall said, his tone sickly sweet.

"If you give me a few minutes, I'm sure I could find something," Harper's mother said, her friendly tone belying the ice in her eyes.

"That would be lovely, thank you ever so much." Anger began to mingle with fear in Harper's chest. Why wasn't her father doing anything? Who were these people? What did they want?

"Harper, Joanna, come help me in the kitchen," the girls' mother said, rising gracefully from the table. Joanna nearly fell as she tried to get to the kitchen as quickly as possible, visibly shaking as she got up. Harper tried to compose herself as she followed her sister, but she wasn't sure that she was entirely successful. She was sure she could feel those blue eyes on her back as she left the dining room. Cyrah had returned to her arms, the little Pokémon shaking along with her trainer.

Harper took sighed in relief she entered the kitchen and her mother had closed the door. In their airy kitchen, a weight was pulled off her shoulders, and she finally felt as though she could breathe freely. Joanna was practically cowering in the kitchen, looking suddenly much younger than her twelve years. Their mother was suddenly moving about the kitchen quickly and silently, pulling out boxes of food, a flashlight, a backpack, and other items that made it look like she was preparing for a camping trip rather than a dessert.

"Mom, what's going on? Who are these people?" Harper asked softly, glancing at the closed door.

"Harper, I can't explain right now. But these people work with your father and I, and they mean to do us harm."

"But you're accountants," Harper said, trying to process what her mother was saying.

"No, we're not. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Harper, I need you to stay calm for your sister, can you do that?" Suddenly, Harper was more afraid than ever, but she nodded anyway, taking deep breaths. "Good. You and your sister need to go to stay with your aunt Lisa in Pewter City. Your father and I are going to have to go with Lyall and Letha. Take this—" she said, handing her the backpack she had been filling and helping her put it on her back. "There is some money in there, enough for you to get by for a few days."

"Mom—"

"Harper, please. I need you to _run_ away from here, do you hear me? Go through the forest, not along the road. Cyrah and Kite will help you, okay? Take care of your sister." Joanna suddenly leapt at their mother, throwing her skinny arms around her neck.

"Mom, don't go," she said. Harper bit her lip as a tear escaped her mother's eye, falling slowly down her cheek. Harper had never seen her mother cry before.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. I have to. Be good for Harper and Aunt Lisa, okay?" she said, prying Joanna's arms from around her neck.

"I love you, Mom," Joanna said, looking up into her mother's nearly identical deep blue eyes.

"I love you, too, Joanna."

"Tell Daddy I love him."

"I will."

"Mom—" Harper began, but she didn't get to finish.

"How is that dessert coming?" Lyall called from the dining room.

"Very well, thank you," Harper's mother called back, and began to push Harper out the back door.

"Don't come back here. Aunt Lisa will understand—she'll take good care of you. Now go." Her mother shut the door in her face, leaving Harper outside with her sister and Pokémon.

"We have to go, Harp," her little sister said, and Harper nodded absently, her mind still attempting to process what had just happened. The two of them set off for Viridian Forest as fast as their feet could take them, with Cyrah sprinting ahead of them and Kite trailing behind. Later, questions flooded Harper's mind. What did her parents really do? Where did they go? Would she ever see them again? Right then, however, as she stumbled through the balmy summer night, all Harper could think was that she never really got to say goodbye.


	2. Chapter 2

"Arya, Rollout!" Harper shouted at her one-eared Jigglypuff. Harper saw her Pokémon grin for a split second before she began rolling at high speeds around the empty lot a few blocks away from her high school. Harper's opponent, the ever confident Brian from fourth period history faltered as Arya made solid contact with his Poliwhirl.

"Chuck, shake it off. Water gun—now!" he called. The Poliwhirl kept aiming for where Arya was, rather than where she would be, and the Jigglypuff dodged it easily and hit the Poliwhirl once more. This time, he didn't get up.

"Geez, Drake. She didn't have to hit him so hard." Harper merely grinned, giving Arya a high five as she looked over the field triumphantly.

"Upset that you lost?" she said, and the small audience that had gathered around them snickered. All of them should have been in class, but the beautiful early June day was too much to pass up. Besides, graduation was nearly upon them, and it was only English class. Harper's ancient teacher probably didn't even notice her absence, and even if she did, there was little she could do that would make Harper wish she had spent the last hour in the stuffy first floor classroom talking about Steinbeck rather than skipping out of school early for an extra hour of sunshine.

"No. If this had been a proper battle with six Pokémon rather than three, I would have won," Brian insisted. Harper knew that he was only trying to call attention to the fact that she only had three Pokemon, but she wasn't really bothered by it—she had still beat him, and badly at that.

"Really? Because her Jigglypuff just KO'ed your three best Pokémon—by herself. How do you think your six would fair against her three?" her friend Ellie called. She smiled at the sandy blonde teen, and Arya smiled too, looking very smug after her recent victory. Brian merely grumbled something about having better things to do and wandered off. Soon, everyone followed, dispersing in small groups to enjoy the sunshine or return to their homes. Harper and Ellie wandered off toward the outskirts of Pewter, in the direction of Mount Moon.

"I can't believe how nice it is outside!" Ellie shouted, twirling and grinning toward the sky. She pulled a Pokéball out of her pocket and threw it into the air, her Ponyta, Pippa, shaking out her fiery mane as her hooves hit the ground. Ellie ran after her only Pokemon, the Ponyta obviously slowing so her trainer could keep up. Arya dashed off after Ellie and Pippa, sometimes skipping, sometimes rolling through the grass, Kite did barrel rolls through the air, calling out to the world jubilantly, and Cyrah laughed as she clung to Harper's favorite lumpy green hat as they ran through the open field together. Harper could still feel her heart racing from her victory earlier, and she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. She wished everyday could be this good.

"I can't believe that high school is almost over!" Harper shouted back, falling into the grass and catching Cyrah in her arms as she leapt from atop her head.

"I can't believe how strong your Pokémon have gotten! You're really good at this, Harp." Harper smiled sadly at her friend, pushing her customarily purple locks out of her face.

"Yeah, I guess so," she replied, thinking about heading to Pallet Town next fall for college, and maybe having to leave Pokémon behind for good. "It doesn't really matter anymore. It's too late now."

"Too late! Harper, I think you're forgetting our final summer of childhood! There are three months ahead of us in which anything could happen." Ellie grinned, and Harper merely shrugged. She saw nothing ahead of her this summer except serving food at the Pokémon Center and watching other trainers do exactly what she wanted to do.

"Come on. I'm never going to be one of those trainers who can just drop everything and leave. My aunt would never let me."

"Screw your aunt."

"Ellie!"  
"Seriously, Harp. If you really want this, then do it."  
"I've only got three Pokémon."

"That's what they make Pokéballs for. Come on, no more excuses. It's time to take life by the horns and do something! If you don't do it now, it really will be too late. You'll be old and gray and completely without tales of the glory days to tell your grandchildren."

"Wow, Elle. That was so cheerful. Thank you for that refreshingly positive image of my future."

"Harper! No more sarcasm. You can throw that out with the excuses. Really now, you can do this."

"I'll never have eight badges in time for the Pokémon League in August."

"So what? Wouldn't it still be great fun to just drop everything and go?" Harper hesitated. The short answer was yes. And yet…the third anniversary of the day her parents had left with Lyall and Letha, the mysterious and threatening figures that still loomed in her nightmares, was a week away. Especially at this time of year, Harper wanted to be home, just in case her parents came back. That was the reason she was going to school so close next fall, that she hadn't decided to go all the way to Johto as she had originally planned. She wanted to be there to hug them, to tell them that she loved them, to take back every mean and spiteful thing she had ever said to them. She knew somewhere in her heart that they were never really going to come back, and maybe it was time to let go. Maybe.

"Harper?" her friend asked, looking her in the eye. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Maybe I will go. Right after graduation," Harper mused, and Arya, Kite, and Cyrah all perked up and glanced around at each other, obviously trying to contain their excitement.

"Oh Harp. Pippa and I will be in the stands watching you and Cyrah and Arya and Kite compete in the Pokemon League someday. You just wait." Ellie smiled, and glanced at her watch and sprung up quickly. "Oh, god. I didn't realize how late it was—I have to get home. Are you going to do your Calc homework tonight?"

"Maybe during lunch tomorrow?" Harper said, looking up at her friend with a grin.

"Haha, of course. You headed back too?" Harper nodded in response and took the hand Ellie offered her and pulled herself off the ground. Cyrah leapt once again onto her shoulder, and Kite and Arya joined them. Ellie vaulted onto Pippa's back and waved goodbye, taking off in the direction of her home. Harper gave Cyrah's head a scratch and started off in the other direction.

"What do you think guys? Should we go for it?" Harper asked her Pokémon, knowing what their response would be.

"Jiggly!" Arya shouted, throwing her short arms into the air and skipping in circles around her trainer. Kite flew in loops around Harper's head, and Cyrah leapt jubilantly from Harper's shoulder to Kite's back, barking her approval. Harper grinned and wondered if maybe she should go. It would only be a couple of months, and Joanna wouldn't miss her that much anyway. Harper was having a hard time picturing what her aunt Lisa's reaction would be. Some things she was really cool about, others…not so much.

Lisa was ten years younger than Harper's mother and a scientist at the museum on the north side of the city. Her current project was resurrecting Pokémon from fossils, which she was doing with surprising success. The first Pokémon they had managed to resurrect was a Kabuto that her aunt had named Willy. The little Pokémon was always clinging to her aunt's person and scurrying around the house. Lisa had even donated her small house's only bathtub to Willy, who liked to sleep in the water. She was much better around Pokémon than her own mother had been, and things like Harper's purple hair failed to bother her. However, she put academics before everything, and romping through the woods and battling Pokémon were hardly high on her list of priorities.

Regardless of how her aunt would react, Harper made her way back through the straight, tidy streets of Pewter City happily, practically dancing as she composed a fictional tale of glory and victory for her potential meteoric rise to fame in the exclusive world of competitive Pokémon battling, picturing each triumphant milestone in her mind's eye.

"Aunt Lisa! Joanna! I'm home!" Harper shouted, dumping her backpack on the floor and letting Kite, Arya, and Cyrah into the house.

"Hey Harp!" her aunt called from the kitchen, where she was laboring over some kind of casserole for dinner that night. "I'm making my specialty—macaroni and sausage." Harper grinned. Aunt Lisa had never been the best of cooks, but her cheesy macaroni and sausage casserole was both supremely delicious and heart attack inducing, exactly the way Harper liked her food.

"Excellent!" Harper said, running to bathroom to wash her hands before joining her aunt in the kitchen. Joanna was watching some TV drama with her Marill, Winnie, standing on the back of the couch behind her, her homework scattered around her in a papery array. "Hey, Jo!" Harper said brightly, picking up a wooden spoon to help her aunt stir the sausage in with the cheese.

"What are you so happy about?" her sister asked without glancing back at her sister.

"Thanks, Jo. Good to see you too."

"Now, now, girls. No fighting. It's Willy's birthday." The Kabuto gurgled a reply as he clung to Lisa's back, and Harper's aunt patted his head affectionately, smiling at her constant companion.

"Has it really been a year?" Harper asked.

"Yep. Little Willy is all grown up now." Harper smiled at her aunt, who was humming under her breath as she pulled opened the oven to put in the casserole. "And now, we wait," she announced after she set the oven timer. She sat down on one of the brown barstools at her kitchen island, allowing Willy to scurry across the counter in front of her. Harper sat down next to her, and Cyrah joined Willy on the counter. Kite settled onto her back and Arya leapt into her lap, nudging her trainer and looking pointedly at Aunt Lisa.

"Alright, Harper. What's up?" her aunt asked, catching Arya's less than subtle glances.

"Um…" Harper hesitated. She wasn't exactly sure how to phrase the question. Arya tugged on her shirt impatiently and Cyrah looked at her expectantly. "Well, I was thinking," she began.

"That's usually a good thing."\

"Yeah. Well, I was thinking that this summer is going to be pretty empty for me."

"Which should be nice before you head to college."

"Yes. Um, but what I was thinking was that this is going to be my last free summer for a long time. Maybe forever." Harper bit her lip nervously as her aunt raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, Harp. What is this about?"

"I wanted to spend the summer training my Pokémon."

"I have a feeling that you don't mean occasional trips to Mount Moon and a couple of battles after work."

"Well, no. I meant traveling and earning badges. You know, real training."

"Real training," Aunt Lisa repeated, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tasted the words on her lips. "I don't like it." Harper sighed—this is not the reaction she was hoping for.

"But—"

"Wait. I didn't say no, I just said I didn't like it. I want you to think about it for the next week, okay? It will mean leaving home early, leaving me and Joanna."  
"I don't care if she goes," Joanna threw in from the next room. "I'll get our bathroom all to myself if she goes."

"Again, thank you, Joanna. I love you too," Harper called at her sister, and Arya glared at the younger Drake. Joanna's Winnie glared back, the two round Pokémon staring at each other from across the room.

"Girls! Please, could you just get along for five minutes?" Lisa said, running her fingers through her chestnut hair. She looked back at Harper after a moment and said, "I feel uncomfortable with you going out on your own. Do you know anyone you could go with?"

"I—" Harper hadn't planned on a travelling companion. Cyrah, Kite, and Arya were company enough for her, but obviously not for aunt. "No. Not really."

"If you can find someone to go with, I'll let you. If not, I don't want you to. You mother would kill me if she knew I let you go on your own." Both Harper and her sister fell silent, quieted by the mention of their mother.

"I'm going to do my Calc homework before dinner," Harper lied, searching for an excuse to retreat to her bedroom. Her Pokémon followed her down the hall to her room and closed the door behind her. She turned on some music and played solitaire on her computer to pass the time, letting Kite fly in and out of the window while Cyrah and Arya sat on her bed and chattered away far too quickly for Harper to understand. She felt her heart sink quickly as the hope from earlier in the day wore off. She was never going to be able to find someone to travel through Kanto with her in the next week. She sighed. _Well, it was nice to think about, at least,_ she thought as her Aunt called her down for dinner. She put on a smile and sat down with her aunt and sister, laughing about stories of Willy's many exploits as they ate. Somehow, her food tasted uncharacteristically bland on Harpers tongue as she imagined all of trainers that would be filing through Viridian City to the Indigo Plateau this August—without her.


	3. Chapter 3

The last week of high school came and went for Harper in a blur. Before she knew it, it was Friday afternoon, and she sat on a white plastic folding chair in the parking lot of her high school in her white polyester cap and gown as her principal, Mrs. Kearney, read off each of her classmates' names in turn. She watched each of them walk up and smile, taking the blue jacketed diplomas in their left hand as they used their right to shake the solemn Mrs. Kearney's hand. Parents lifted their arms over the heads of the people in front of them, craning their necks to get the best possible picture of their kids as they accepted the symbol of their triumph over twelve long years of schooling.

Harper smiled and walked tall as her name was called, posing for her aunt at the podium like everyone else. Her smile was empty, though, a mask over the hollow feeling in her chest. It was hard for her not to miss her parents on this kind of occasion. Would they be proud of her? Would her mother have baked her favorite chocolate cake for her graduation party? Would they both have taken off work to see her graduate? She remembered all of the missed birthdays as either her mother or father was away on business. Next year, they would say. Next year they would both be there. Would her graduation have been any different? Guilt mingled with her sadness at the unkind thoughts. She blinked fiercely in the June sun to banish the thoughts.

Before she knew it, Mrs. Kearney was shaking Neil Zimmerman's hand. She said a few closing words after he returned to his seat, giving her students one last kick out of the nest. After three hours of name calling and speeches, it was time for everyone to throw their caps in the air and mingle with their classmates before making their way to smiling relatives and wild graduation parties. Harper gave a few hugs and said a few goodbyes, struck by the oddity of the whole affair. She didn't feel any different, and while she knew she may never see some of these people again, the thought was distant, the reality of graduation still vague in her mind. What she really wanted to do was find Cyrah, Kite, Arya, her aunt, her sister, and her friend Ellie. She wanted to cling to their familiarity before the rest of her life commenced.

As she was craning her neck to find them, Cyrah leapt from behind her onto her head, balancing on the cardboard square and yipping happily.

"Jiggly!" Arya cried, leaping into her arms as Kite rubbed his head against Harper's back and attached himself to her shoulder.

"Hey, guys!" Harper cried, laughing at the sudden display of affection. Her aunt and sister found their way to her, and the two of them smiled and hugged her as soon as she put a disgruntled Arya onto the ground.

"Congratulations, Harper!" Lisa said, holding her niece at arm's length. For a short moment, she looked so much like Harper's mother—the same dark hair, the same blue eyes. But then she smiled, and the illusion was shattered. Her aunt smiled broadly, showing her straight white teeth and revealing her dimples, while Harper's mother would smile mostly with her eyes, her mouth only turning up at the corners. She smiled back at her aunt, trying not to think about her absent parents. Would her stoic father have brought Fia with him to graduation? Would he have given one of his rare smiles to his daughter? At that moment, a smile from her father would have been at once the best and most unlikely graduation present she could have received.

"Thanks, Aunt Lisa."

"Yeah, Harp. Congratulations," Joanna said, smiling genuinely at her sister for the first time in a long time. The hug her sister gave her was a good substitute for her missing father. Harper focused on the two of them, determined to make this a good day.

"I love you, Jo," Harper said.

"Love you too, Harp. Now can we go home and eat some cake?"

"I have a gift for you," Aunt Lisa said, smiling at Harper after the three of them had eaten enough cake to feed an army.

"I love presents," Harper said with a grin as her aunt pulled out a gift bag with a Hoothoot pattern and copious amounts of tissue paper. "Aw, a gift bag, just what I always wanted."

"Oh, just open it already," Aunt Lisa said, practically jumping out of her chair as she watched her niece push her faded purple hair behind her ears as she slowly pulled the tissue paper out of the bag.

"Come on, Harper. Just open it," Joanna said, and Harper smiled as she pulled out the remaining tissue paper. At the bottom of the bag was a simple pokéball nestled in another layer of green tissue paper. Harper picked it up experimentally, knowing by its weight and warmth that it contained a Pokémon.

"Aunt Lisa, what…?"

"Don't let her out in the house. She's a little big for the dining room." Harper's smile broadened, and she leapt from her chair, dashing for the back door with Cyrah, Kite, and Arya in tow. As soon as she was out in the fresh air, she threw the Pokéball into the air, biting her lip in anticipation as the red stream of energy solidified into a big, gray Aerodactyl.

"Do you like her?" Aunt Lisa said, smiling at Harper from the doorway.

"Like her? Do I like her? Is that a question?" Harper laughed as the great flying Pokémon called into the muggy evening, bugling in obvious joy at getting to spread her wings.

"I'm glad you're happy."

"Thank you so much Aunt Lisa!" Harper said, throwing her arms around her Aunt's neck.

"We named her Petra. I've been hiding her in the lab—if anyone asks, you didn't get her from me. Officially, she escaped two days ago."

"Aunt Lisa! Couldn't you lose your job for something like that?"

"No, I don't think so. I'm the only one who can get the machinery to work," she replied with a wink.

"This is the best gift you could have given me," Harper said, gazing up at her new Aerodactyl. _Petra_, she thought firmly, liking the sound of the name. The Pokémon looked in her new trainer's direction and began a lazy descent to the ground, making big loops overhead before landing in front of Harper. Kite clung to her back, seemingly afraid of the bigger Pokemon.

"Hey, buddy, there's nothing to be afraid of," Harper said, rubbing his head reassuringly. "I hi, Petra. I'm Harper." Harper waved and smiled, and the big Aerodactyl bugled happily and leapt toward her. Harper suddenly found herself tumbling across their small backyard in a tangle of limbs and oddly rocky wings. Kite had escaped just in time, and was shrilling angrily at the Aerodactyl. Harper managed to escape, suddenly terrified and wondering what in the world her aunt was thinking.

"I suppose I forgot to warn you. Petra tends to be a little, shall we say, overly affectionate?" Aunt Lisa said, looking a little guilty. Harper glanced at the Pokémon in question, who was grinning broadly. Harper nodded tentatively, and Arya laughed hysterically.

"Eevee!" Cyrah barked at Arya, growling a little before thoroughly inspecting Harper, looking for any injuries.

"I'm fine, girl!" Harper said to the little Eevee. "Really, I'm fine." Cyrah wasn't really satisfied, but sat at Harper's feet, glaring at Arya and Petra in turn.

"Well, Petra, I suppose I should introduce you to the gang. This is Cyrah, and over there is Kite, and that's Arya." Harper watched in horror as she bugled and moved toward Kite for what Harper could only guess was another violent hug. "NO!" she shouted. "Waving is enough, I think," Harper said, and though Petra looked a little confused, she waved happily at each Pokémon in turn.

"Hey, Petra," Lisa said with a smile. "I think you have to go back in your Pokeball now. But tomorrow, I promise you'll have plenty of time to have fun, okay?" Petra sighed, and Harper was hit with a pang of guilt as she pressed the center button on the red and white ball, big Pokémon in front of her dissolving into the familiar stream of red energy before being swallowed by the Pokéball once more.

"Aunt Lisa, I can't believe this. She's wonderful."

"I'm so glad you like her, but she's only half of my present."

"Really? No offense, but I don't think you can top an extinct Pokémon."

"I think you'll like this. I wanted to tell you that I want you to go."

"Go where?" Harper said, her mind still focused on the prehistoric Pokémon in her hand.

"On your little trip. You're right—you're not going to find a better time to do it than now, and I want you to have this. I really do."

"But I didn't find anyone to go with!"  
"I think Petra will ward off any danger, don't you?" Harper grinned widely, laughing happily as she threw her arms around her aunt's neck.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Harper cried. Cyrah, Kite, and Arya screamed in delight, suddenly dancing around Aunt Lisa's narrow backyard.

"Jeez, Harp. You don't have to scream," Joanna said, her Marril covering her ears and looking extremely disgruntled. Harper merely turned to her sister and picked her up, spinning around despite her sister's protests, kissing her forehead as soon as she put her down.

"I'm going to be a real trainer!"

"Jiggly!" Ary cried, and leapt onto Harper's head. She couldn't contain herself. This was exactly what she had wanted for so long. It was better than the time Kyle Lothers had kissed her under the apple tree in front of their high school, it was better than the time she beat up the same Kyle Lothers for cheating on her with Jan Smith, it was even better than getting a perfect score on her SAT.

"I have to pack," she said, grabbing the edges of her green knit hat. "I'll have to buy a sleeping bag. How much do sleeping bags cost? Oh, man. I'm so excited." Harper ran into the house to take stock of everything she owned and what she could bring with her. She would be walking a lot—she would have to pack light. How did all those trainers manage it? She had too many clothes she wanted to bring. What did they do? Do laundry every day? She would need a flashlight, and some snacks, and of course she would need some books, you know, for when she was camping…

As she was carefully assembling everything she would need on her bed, Harper suddenly had time to think. Was this the right thing? Could she leave her sister and her aunt and her home? Could she give up on her parents? She thought of how happy she had been when she realized that this was really going to happen, that she was actually going to leave. Of course this was the right thing. Of course it was. She shook her head in attempt to clear it, hitting herself with some of her purple locks. She examined the ends carefully, grimacing at the faded color. She would have to dye it again before she left…


End file.
